Southern New England was once one of the world's great oyster-producing areas. In this detailed study, Kochiss traces the rise and decline of the oyster industry and the specialized boats and techniques that developed from colonial times through the turn of the twentieth century when oystering was a multimillion-dollar fishery. This book is beautifully designed, packaged in a slipcase, and contains a wealth of period photographs and engravings.
Bill Buford's Heat meets Phoebe Damrosch's Service Included in this unique blend of personal narrative, food miscellany, and history In March of 2009, Erin Byers Murray ditched her pampered city girl lifestyle and convinced the rowdy and mostly male crew at Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury, Massachusetts, to let a completely unprepared, aquaculture-illiterate food and lifestyle writer work for them for a year to learn the business of oysters. The result is Shucked—part love letter, part memoir and part documentary about the world's most beloved bivalves. Providing an in-depth look at the work that goes into getting oysters from farm to table, Shucked shows Erin's fullcircle journey through the modern day oyster farming process and tells a dynamic story about the people who grow our food, and the cutting-edge community of weathered New England oyster farmers who are defying convention and looking ahead. The narrative also interweaves Erin's personal story—the tale of how a technology-obsessed workaholic learns to slow life down a little bit and starts to enjoy getting her hands dirty (and cold). This is a book for oyster lovers everywhere, but also a great read for locavores and foodies in general.
Paradise Found takes you inside the kitchens of eighteen of the most popular restaurants on St. Barths. All aspects of the island?s gastronomic scene ? from the creative genius of the island?s award-winning chefs, to Creole favorites made by local island families ? are explored. With eighteen dinner menus and over seventy recipes, Paradise Found is a comprehensive primer on the very best of modern French Caribbean cooking and includes such signature offerings as Provencale Fish Soup, Cod Fritters, Duck Confit, Fish Tempura with a Green Mango Salad, Tuna Sashimi with Avocado Sorbet, Chocolate Fondant Cake and Homemade Vanilla Rum. Equally important, Paradise Found takes you inside the lives of the people who own and work in the various restaurants on the island. You?ll meet Andy Hall, who left a life in the London insurance world to harvest grapes in France and ended up owning one of the liveliest restaurants on the island; Randy and Maya Gurley, who honed their cooking skills in the charter boat business and created one of the most popular restaurants in the Caribbean; Franckie and David Greaux, who set out early every morning in their boat to catch the fresh fish that is cooked by their mother and served in the ground floor of their parents? house each evening; and Chef Kiki Barjettas, who developed his passion for cooking while accompanying his father to the market every Sunday as a young boy in France. You will also hear Denis Chevallier and Franck Mathevet describe their move from the French Alps to St. Barths to open The Wall House Restaurant as a moment of ?unconsciousness,? and Adam Rajner, the owner of Le Sapotillier, explain that he decided to sell a very successful brasserie which he had operated for years in Nice and purchase a restaurant in St. Barths, sight unseen, because ?there are times when your conscience knows what your mind does not.? The residents of St. Barths are determined to live each day of their lives joyfully. Their love of life is infectious, and the visitor cannot help but be inspired by their example. So pull up a chair, share a meal, listen to their stories and let Paradise Found awaken your passion for life as well.
Before New York City was the Big Apple, it could have been called the Big Oyster. Now award-winning author Mark Kurlansky tells the remarkable story of New York by following the trajectory of one of its most fascinating inhabitants–the oyster, whose influence on the great metropolis remains unparalleled. For centuries New York was famous for its oysters, which until the early 1900s played such a dominant a role in the city’s economy, gastronomy, and ecology that the abundant bivalves were Gotham’s most celebrated export, a staple food for the wealthy, the poor, and tourists alike, and the primary natural defense against pollution for the city’s congested waterways. Filled with cultural, historical, and culinary insight–along with historic recipes, maps, drawings, and photos–this dynamic narrative sweeps readers from the island hunting ground of the Lenape Indians to the death of the oyster beds and the rise of America’s environmentalist movement, from the oyster cellars of the rough-and-tumble Five Points slums to Manhattan’s Gilded Age dining chambers. Kurlansky brings characters vividly to life while recounting dramatic incidents that changed the course of New York history. Here are the stories behind Peter Stuyvesant’s peg leg and Robert Fulton’s “Folly”; the oyster merchant and pioneering African American leader Thomas Downing; the birth of the business lunch at Delmonico’s; early feminist Fanny Fern, one of the highest-paid newspaper writers in the city; even “Diamond” Jim Brady, who we discover was not the gourmand of popular legend. With The Big Oyster, Mark Kurlansky serves up history at its most engrossing, entertaining, and delicious.
The Fulton Fish Market stands out as an iconic New York institution. At first a neighborhood retail market for many different kinds of food, it became the nation’s largest fish and seafood wholesaling center by the late nineteenth century. Waves of immigrants worked at the Fulton Fish Market and then introduced the rest of the city to their seafood traditions. In popular culture, the market—celebrated by Joseph Mitchell in The New Yorker—conjures up images of the bustling East River waterfront, late-night fishmongering, organized crime, and a vanished working-class New York. This book is a lively and comprehensive history of the Fulton Fish Market, from its founding in 1822 through its move to the Bronx in 2005. Jonathan H. Rees explores the market’s workings and significance, tracing the transportation, retailing, and consumption of fish. He tells the stories of the people and institutions that depended on the Fulton Fish Market—including fishermen, retail stores, restaurants, and chefs—and shows how the market affected what customers in New York and around the country ate. Rees examines transformations in food provisioning systems through the lens of a vital distribution point, arguing that the market’s wholesale dealers were innovative businessmen who adapted to technological change in a dynamic industry. He also explains how changes in the urban landscape and economy affected the history of the market and the surrounding neighborhood. Bringing together economic, technological, urban, culinary, and environmental history, this book demonstrates how the Fulton Fish Market shaped American cuisine, commerce, and culture.
A playful guide to identifying, serving, and enjoying one of America's most delicious foods describes the various types of oysters available in terms of appearance, origin, availability, and flavor and provides a host of tempting recipes, a color guide, lists of top oyster restaurants and festivals, tips on pairing wine and oysters, and more.
